Market Humanism: A New Operating System for the Economy (with Nick Hanauer)

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Civic Ventures

News, Business, Government, Politics

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For the first time in Pitchfork Economics history, Nick Hanauer is on the other side of the mic. Goldy and Paul sit down with Nick to discuss Market Humanism: the emerging economic paradigm he and Eric Beinhocker believe can replace the trickle-down ideas that have shaped American policymaking for the past 50 years. Why have wages stagnated while inequality soared? Why does conventional economics treat policies that help ordinary people as threats to growth? And what changes when we recognize that markets are human-built institutions—not forces of nature? The conversation exposes the failures of the old economic model, how power shapes who gets what and why, and why a fairer economy is also a more prosperous one. Nick Hanauer is a Seattle-based entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and civic leader dedicated to building a more inclusive and sustainable economy. He is the founder of Civic Ventures, a public policy incubator, and co-host of the podcast Pitchfork Economics. A leading voice for “middle-out” economics, his commentary has appeared in The Atlantic, Politico, Bloomberg, and The New York Times. He is the author of The Gardens of Democracy , The True Patriot, and a frequent advocate for policies that put working people at the center of economic growth. Social Media: @nickhanauer.bsky.social @NickHanauer Further reading: Democracy Journal - Market Humanism: A New Paradigm for a New Era The Atlantic - The Economic Experiment That Upended Reality Markets Built for Humans - A Guide for Policy Professionals to the New Economics The Gardens of Democracy The True Patriot Corporate Bullsh*t: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Protect Profit, Power, and Wealth in America Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com Facebook: Pitchfork Economics Podcast Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics Threads: pitchforkeconomics TikTok: @pitchfork_econ YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	The rising inequality and growing political instability that we see today are the direct result of decades of bad economic theory.
0:10.6	The last five decades of trickle-down economics haven't worked.
0:14.6	But what's the alternative?
0:16.2	Middle-out economics is the answer.
0:18.6	Because the middle class is the source of growth, not its consequence.
0:23.1	That's right.
0:28.7	This is Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer, a podcast about how to build the economy from the middle out.
0:36.9	Welcome to the show.
0:44.5	Paul.
0:45.7	Hi.
0:46.5	Oh, it's always fun to have you on the pod,
0:50.9	filling in for Nick or sometimes filling in for me.
0:55.4	And today it's a really special episode of pitchfork economics with Nick Hanauer.
1:05.5	Because this is the first, first time we've ever done this.
1:11.1	This is actually Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer.
1:15.0	With Nick Hanauer.
1:19.4	Yeah, it's, so the reason why you're joining me, the two of us here, is we're going to actually interview our boss today,
1:28.5	which is something...
1:29.9	Very fair and balanced interview.
1:32.2	That's right.
1:33.1	A little, you know, caveat up front.
1:35.9	He pays us.
	...

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